The Cheesecake Factory Inc. shares jumped 20 percent Friday morning, a day after the casual dining chain reported first-quarter net income that was 30 percent lower than a year ago but still much better than Wall Street expected.

The Calabasas company late Thursday reported net income of $10 million (17 cents per share), compared to $14.3 million (21 cents) a year ago. Revenue fell a quarter percent to nearly $393 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected the company to earn 10 cents per share on revenue of more than $382 million. A William Blair analyst upgraded shares from “market perform” to “outperform.”

Chief Executive David Overton said the company worked hard to control costs and change up its menus to bring back cost-conscious diners. Cheesecake Factory’s same-store sales fell 3.4 percent, better than the 7.1 percent dip the company saw in the fourth quarter.

“A significant upturn in comparable restaurant sales as compared to the fourth quarter was the principal driver of our better-than-expected earnings per share in the first quarter,” Overton said in a statement.

The company forecast 2009 earnings of between 67 cents and 75 cents per share, based on a 3 percent to 4.5 percent decline in sales at established restaurants. Cheesecake Factory, which operates 145 Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux locations, opened one restaurant during the quarter, and plans to add only one more restaurant this year due to the poor economy.

Cheesecake Factory shares closed up $2.89 to $17.81 on the Nasdaq.